Cluster of Excellence "Internet of Production"

Copyright: CoE IoP

The cluster of excellence “Internet of Production (IoP)” at RWTH Aachen University was granted funding under the Excellence Strategy, an initiative by federal and state governments which aims at promoting outstanding research in Germany. Within the cluster, the GDI is represented in two sub-projects: "Equal Opportunities" and "Integrated Usage".

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In its role as a worldwide socio-technical network, the internet has revolutionised the availability of data and knowledge. The concept of the Internet of Things (IoT) transfers this idea to the physical world. The application of IoT within the context of production is not yet feasible as production technology is determined by significantly more parameters on the one hand, but less available data than other domains on the other hand. While large amounts of data are available in state-of-the-art production technology, these data are neither easily accessible, interpretable, nor connected in a way that would allow to generate knowledge from them. The vision of the Internet of Production (IoP) is to enable a new level of cross-domain collaboration by providing semantically adequate and contextual data from production, development and usage in real time and with adapted granularity.

Sub-project "Equal Opportunities"

Following on from the activities of the Cluster of Excellence "Integrative Production Technology for High-Wage Countries", the GDI is researching the implementation of a diversity management approach in complex organisational structures as part of the Cluster of Excellence "Internet of Production". Located at the cluster management, the central task of the sub-project is to develop a concept within the framework of a system-theoretical approach, which enables diversity management to be anchored in the organisational culture and structure of the cluster. Part of the project is the development of personnel management and recruiting concepts in terms of proactive headhunting for underrepresented groups as well as a diversity-sensitive recruitment and appointment process. To achieve this, change management mechanisms will also be applied. Furthermore, the project is characterised by cluster internal as well as external network activities.

Sub-project D1 – "Integrated Usage"

Against the background of digitalisation, technical developments and changes in industry and their influence on work processes and organisational procedures, it is necessary to investigate the influences on people who are an essential part of social-technical production systems. Therefore requirements, chances, consequences and limits of IoP have to be analysed with regard to their effects on people. Within the D1 subproject, the human being is placed at the centre of attention over the entire production (workshop, control and management level of a company). This results in a research focus that considers the adaptation of work processes to new conditions, the transfer of knowledge between users and digitalised production technology, the handling of new team structures (hybrid human-machine) and the adaptation of organisational structures and management strategies as a priority.

The GDI is researching the need for adaptation of organisational structures and organisational cultures by conducting acceptance studies in companies in order to enable the implementation of the idea of IoP in existing organisations. The goal is to develop transferable and cross-sectoral strategies that minimise reactances and enable a sustainable implementation of the IoP idea.